Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Survivor Nicaragua is on my viewing schedule. I like watching this Psychological experiment. It is like watching intelligent Lab Rats.

The New Yorker has an interesting piece by Malcolm Gladwell entitled Small Change.

He argues that real Social change will not come about from the likes of Twitter or Facebook. “Strong-tie” v. "weak-tie" connections and the difference between networks, which are the opposite, in structure and character, of hierarchies , make change that people will fight for difficult in the new Social Networks. Worth reading.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Oktoberfest typically begins in late September. This year it runs from September 18th to October 3rd, 2010.

To celebrate Oktoberfest, the Sam Adams Harvest Collection.

The beers are interesting and tasty. The bottled Sam Adams Oktoberfest is better than the tap version, a rare event. The tap is very good but the bottle has more flavor.

Michael Lewis is always interesting, so I will see what he has to say about the last financial collapse. His latest article in Vanity Fair about Greece: Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds is required reading.

Picked this one up from the Queens Library. Great book, all about Heuristics which are cognitive rules of thumb, hard-wired mental shortcuts that everyone uses every day in routine decision-making and judgment.

This book offers a quick tour of such topics as: familiarity heuristic;acceptance heuristic and default heuristic or consistency heuristic. The introduction cites to Avalanche victims and the poor decisions that were made: First Paper and Second Paper.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Real treat tonight. But, rain may block it. Not only will Northern America witness the beginning of autumn at 11:09 Eastern tonight, there will be a full moon in the sky. Put those two occurrences together and you'll get the rare "super harvest moon."

The event has not occurred for 20 years, and probably will not reoccur until 2029.

Tonight the nearly full moon will be rising just above the bright planet Jupiter and a somewhat dimmer Uranus.

Shine On Harvest MoonBy Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth (1903)

Shine on, shine on harvest moonUp in the sky,I ain’t had no lovin’Since January, February, June or JulySnow time ain’t no time to stayOutdoors and spoon,So shine on, shine on harvest moon,For me and my gal.

How is it computed?The short method: Take the number of games yet to be played, add one, then subtract the number of games ahead in the loss column of the standings from the closest opponent.

But it might be even easier to do it with one glance at the standings if you can follow this simple mathematical formula: Games In A Season plus 1 minus Wins minus Losses by Second-Place Team. Because Games plus 1 should equal 163 in all instances, it can be summed up as:

163 - Wins - Losses By Second-Place Team

Before the season starts, every team has a magic number of 163. That would be 162 games plus 1, with 0 wins and 0 losses by the second-place team.

When the number reaches 1When the magic number is 1, that means the team has clinched at least a tie for the championship. Once it reaches zero, the team has won the title.

The "tragic number"The opposite of the magic number is the elimination number or the "tragic number," which is the reverse of the magic number. It's the combination of losses and wins by the front-running team for a team to be eliminated.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Facebook is all the rage with new movies coming out. My household is on it and I can see what others are doing. I see the appeal, but I will not join: TMI. The new issue of the New Yorker has a good article on Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Also, in today's NYT, a great outline of the Bush Tax Cuts. The upcoming vote will debate on whether to extend them for all brackets. The wealthy get the best breaks. The Democrats want to limit it for those making $250,000 and under, and the Republicans want to extend them for all.

Friday, September 17, 2010

A Tornado hit Queens last night. Pretty bleak the next day. Lots of damage.

Big tree down.

This cemetery fence was wiped out.

Celtic Ale from Long Ireland Beer Company is the weekend choice. The web site description:"Since Ireland is an island, ingredients weren't always readily available. The Irish brewers used ingredients that they were able to get locally. This beer is made with 4 different malts and a big serving of honey and oats that give it a sweet but smooth flavor. It is 5% a.b.v. and 20 Ibu’s."

Monday, September 6, 2010

Labor Day was first celebrated on September 5, 1882 with a massive parade in New York City. It became a federal holiday in 1894 and is designed to honor and celebrate the working American. The above picture is from the first parade and includes Union Square.

Always nice to see a rainbow.

Pretty slim pickings today, not much of a crowd.

Still picked up white corn, tomatoes and peaches.

Purple vegetables all over,here eggplant.

Cabbage.

Indoor BBQ with BLTs, Hot Sausage, Hot Dogs, Burgers and Chicken. The plan is not to cook the rest of the week. Budweiser was on sale for $11 a twelve-pack, no craft beer this holiday. It used to be my favorite beer until my taste buds grew up. Still a decent beer.